Students’ Union Welfare Vice-President, Rachel Breslin, has informed the College Tribune that the Residences Ball was never meant to be a profitable event for the Union but an event planned by the Residences Reps with “the aim of increasing community spirit on residences”. The cancellation occurred due to slow ticket sales.
“We took the difficult decision to cancel it before acts or other expenses had to be fully confirmed and paid for”. This decision was made by Saturday 28th January at the latest. She stated that the Union lost €1,000 in total. They are “still looking at ways to reduce [the loss] further”, including returning decor and other expenses. According to Breslin, the Union has received complete refunds for any returned items.
She stressed that the forty students who bought tickets and the twenty who placed deposits have all been successfully contacted and refunded.
When asked by the Tribune about the Ball’s cancellation, President of the Students’ Union, Pat de Brún stated that there “was no charge to the Union for the cancellation aside from the lost deposit, which amounted to €1,000.” It was not expressed what percentage of the total cost this was.
There was no cancellation fee imposed for the expected cost of food and wine. De Brún believed that the promotional costs for the event “did not exceed €200.”
Conor Fox
